Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Sand Sculpture System: “For this mystery grand prize, Host, you will receive three modern, high-tech divine artifacts!”
“Modern, high-tech divine artifacts? And three of them?”
Ye Piaoling’s eyes lit up.
That sounded pretty darn good!
“First item: one modern, high-tech household item. Host, please draw it yourself.”
As the System spoke, nine cards appeared before Ye Piaoling, each one marked with a question mark.
Ye Piaoling couldn’t help asking, “What’s in here?”
Sand Sculpture System revealed, “There’s a microwave that can automatically produce food, a washing machine that can automatically produce clothes, a refrigerator that can automatically produce ice cream, a television that can automatically produce TV dramas, an ATM that can automatically produce Silver Banknote, a portable hard drive that can automatically produce those naked ooh-ahh videos…”
Ye Piaoling screamed, “The ATM! I want the ATM!”
Sand Sculpture System: “You can’t choose directly. Host must rely on luck and flip a card to draw it yourself.”
Ye Piaoling: “I only get one draw?”
Sand Sculpture System: “That’s right.”
“Fine. Good. Okay…” Ye Piaoling swallowed and said, “But if you dare let me draw that hard drive, I will smash your stupid sand-sculpture dog head in.”
Sand Sculpture System sounded aggrieved. “What’s wrong with the hard drive? It has 500 terabytes of storage.”
Ye Piaoling couldn’t be bothered with it. Her gaze moved back and forth over the nine cards. After hesitating for a long while, she tapped the one on the very edge.
Generally speaking, grand prizes were always hidden in the corners!
The card flipped over, complete with its own little confetti-burst special effect.
Immediately afterward, three glittering golden words appeared on it:
Flashlight
“Congratulations, Host. You have successfully obtained Flashlight!”
The next second, a compact, pink, girly-looking Flashlight appeared in Ye Piaoling’s hand.
Sand Sculpture System: “Unexpected? Surprised?”
Ye Piaoling was indeed quite surprised.
After suffocating in silence for a very long time, she said furiously, “You didn’t say there was a Flashlight just now!”
System: “I didn’t finish listing everything just now. I only got as far as the hard drive. The Flashlight came after that.”
Ye Piaoling: “…”
So after going through all that trouble to complete the mission, all she had drawn was a Flashlight!?
Damn it. How heartbreaking.
System said, “Host, don’t be sad. This Flashlight isn’t an ordinary Flashlight. Its functions are extremely powerful. It comes with top-tier lighting, sound, and special effects, and has three modes: Children’s Mode, Adult Mode, and Ashes Mode.”
Ye Piaoling: “Oh?”
She barely managed to work up some interest and tentatively pressed the Flashlight’s switch.
She turned on Children’s Mode.
With a snap, the Flashlight lit up.
The very next second, cheerful singing instantly rang through the room!
“Pleasant Goat, Pretty Goat, Lazy Goat, Boiling Goat,
Slow Goat, Soft and Fluffy, Red Wolf, Gray Wolf.
Don’t look at me as just a little goat,
The green grass smells sweeter because of me.
The sky turns bluer because of me,
The white clouds turn softer because of me.”
The Flashlight’s glow illuminated the room. The walls were covered in colorful cartoon patterns, brimming with childlike fun.
All kinds of stars and moons, all kinds of red flowers and green grass, all kinds of Pleasant Goat and Gray Wolf, spun and collided back and forth…
Ye Piaoling stood in the middle, her face covered in dense black lines.
Her feelings were extremely complicated. For a moment, she had no idea what to say.
When human beings encountered a situation like this, what were they supposed to say?
In the fish tank in the hall…
When Koi heard the magical music coming from inside the room, the entire fish froze.
A moment later, it couldn’t help excitedly swishing its tail!
Aaaah, it sounded so good!!!
Koi was infected by the singing all at once. Its fish body flipped over in bliss, standing upright as it began to bounce back and forth through the water in time with the melody, dancing joyfully…
Don’t be fooled just because I’m only a little goat; a goat’s cleverness is beyond imagination.
No matter how high the sky, my heart is just as wild and free. Every day, I chase the sun!
…
Ye Piaoling held the Flashlight up without moving until the entire song finished.
She wanted to know what would happen after Pleasant Goat finished singing.
The song ended. The air fell silent for an instant-then the music started up again.
“Pleasant Goat, Pretty Goat, Lazy Goat…”
Ye Piaoling: “…”
Fine.
So after Pleasant Goat came more Pleasant Goat.
Children’s Mode had nothing else. Just this one song. On single-track repeat.
Absolutely goated. In the worst way.
Ye Piaoling hurriedly pressed the switch again.
It switched to Adult Mode.
With a snap, Pleasant Goat and the wall full of stars and moons finally vanished.
Immediately after, a familiar song for grown-ups began to play.
“The chrysanthemums wither, wounds cover the ground,
Your smile has already yellowed with age.
Flowers fall, hearts break,
My worries lie quietly still.
The north wind rages, the night is not yet over,
Your shadow cannot be cut away…”
At the same time, the patterns on the wall changed into mature and melancholy geometric shapes: circles, lines, triangles, rectangles, S-shapes, B-shapes… They drifted and swirled with the music, giving off quite the romantic air.
Ye Piaoling held up the Flashlight, and the black lines on her face had grown even denser.
So dense her features were almost impossible to make out.
Inside the fish tank, Koi’s body suddenly froze.
-What the hell is this? Why did you change the song? Hurry up and switch it back!
Koi was furious.
I want to listen to that Pleasant Goat song from before!!!
Ye Piaoling did not want to listen to Chrysanthemum Terrace either, so she pressed the switch again.
This time, it was Ashes Mode.
The mode changed, and the entire world abruptly fell silent.
Ye Piaoling was a little puzzled. Why was Ashes Mode soundless?
She lowered her head and looked at the Flashlight.
“DUANG!!!”
A world-shattering boom suddenly exploded, accompanied by blinding white light!
Ye Piaoling was so startled that she flung the Flashlight away.
The Flashlight hit the ground and began Ashes Mode.
In an instant, all kinds of gong and drum beats, explosion sounds, howling winds, and tsunami roars went banging and clanging nonstop. Boom boom rumble rumble, dong dong clang clang-white light, red light, green light, and yellow light tangled chaotically before her eyes, shooting everywhere like mad.
It was like an earthquake, like a demolition site, like a bar, a disco, and a wedding venue all at once…
In the hall, Koi heard this demonic sound effect and instantly lost its mind.
Its brain was buzzing from the shock.
What are you doing? Trying to get yourself killed??
Even if you won’t let me listen to Pleasant Goat, you can’t make me listen to this thing!!!
Koi absolutely could not take it anymore. Its body trembled, and it was about to charge out of the fish tank…
Fortunately, Ye Piaoling had already picked up the Flashlight one step ahead and turned it off.
Once Ashes Mode was shut off, peace finally returned to the world.
Sand Sculpture System: [So? Pretty good Flashlight, right?]
Ye Piaoling: [Damn right, it’s simply amazing!]
System: [This Flashlight also comes with a built-in premium battery. One cell is stronger than six, lasts fifty years, and you don’t have to worry about it running out of power at all!]
Ye Piaoling: [Don’t worry, it won’t take fifty years. The second Ashes Mode turns on, I feel like I can immediately turn into ashes.]
She carefully put the Flashlight away.
It truly was a divine artifact.
Sand Sculpture System: [Host, please draw the next prize: a modern high-tech weapon!]
As soon as it finished speaking, nine question-mark cards once again appeared in the void before Ye Piaoling.
After the failed experience with the Flashlight, Ye Piaoling did not even bother asking what the options were. She would not be able to draw what she asked about anyway…
She reached out and selected the card in the very center.